Human Relations

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and the City’s Office of Community Affairs and Human Relations were proud to be a Platinum Sponsor for the 2^nd Annual Regional Fair Housing Summit, entitled One Community, Growing Together: Regional Approaches to Creating Inclusive Communities on Tuesday, April 30^th at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center at the Florida Mall.

 

At the Summit, Orlando’s Civil Rights hero, Bob Billingslea, retired Corporate  Director of Urban Affairs for Walt Disney Company, was honored for responding to the needs of Orlando’s diverse communities for more than 40 years. Mr. Billingslea was instrumental in creating the Orlando Human Relations Office and the Chapter 57 Ordinance. He was also a leader in establishing single-member district voting in the City.

 

Nearly 300 people attended 13 fair housing workshops and commemorated the 45th anniversary of the passage of the U.S. Fair Housing Law. Orlando also celebrated the 40^th anniversary of the City’s passage of the Chapter 57 Code of the City of Orlando, which was established to eliminate discrimination and foster affirmative action in our city. For more information about the Regional Summit, please visit www.fairhousingsummit.info.

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Mission

The mission of the Office of Human Relations (OHR) is to promote equality of opportunity for the citizens of Orlando by advocating policies of nondiscrimination and administering City and Federal laws that prohibit discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation

Services

The OHR is an agent of both the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  The office provides the following services:

• Accepts, investigates and resolves complaints of discrimination, contingent upon the applicable rules and regulations mandated by Chapter 57 of the Code of the City and contractual agreements with EEOC and HUD.
   
• Conducts education and outreach activities for the public in order to increase citizen awareness of their rights and the remedies available to them under existing discrimination laws.
   
• Conducts training workshops for employers, housing providers, and individuals/entities involved in the business of providing access to places of public accommodation.  Discussions can be general or customized per request, and may include best practices, the basics of existing laws, new amendments to existing laws, and, new laws and how they will change your workplace.
   
• Refers citizens to agencies and organizations as appropriate.